Precisionism

Anna:
We are finally back on the internet and I just got back home from todays ballet class. Ballet, boxing, crossfit and kettlebells, naturally, have their similarities in the strive for perfect movement. Still, ballet is so different. It might be the most understated type of activity I've ever practiced.

Of course ballet has it's share of grand gestures and glam but what differentiates it from most other physical endeavours is that in ballet God is really, truly, profoundly in the details.
When you snatch a weight, throw a punch or swing a bell there's always some room for personal preferences and technique. Your feet can be more or less apart, the width of your grip can vary and if your shoulders aren't quite were they should be it's not the end of the world. If you box for instance, surely there will be a lot of technique drills but the primary focus will always be on the final movement. The punch, the jab or the press and the squat if you're lifting weights. And your deadlift still counts as a deadlift even if your back was slightly curved on the way up.

So where am I going with this?

In ballet the big movements are secondary. What really matters are the barely visible internal tensions: head high, shoulders down, arms slightly curved but not really curved, fingers not straight but not relaxed, ribcage in and down but torso up, buttocks tucked under but back straight, hips turned out, knees turned out, legs straightened, heel forward but toes back. And it's all these little details that make ballet ballet. Without this, a jetée is not a jetée, it's just a kick.

It is a if someone assembled all the akward movements there are and created a dogm for how to make them look natural but at the same time execute them in the most difficult manner possible. That means that even standing in first position, not moving a 1/16 of an inch is going to make you brake a sweat. You work like a bull to look like a sparrow.

Although the drills we did today are, seemingly, rather simple and not grand at all sweat was dripping from my nose and we're all shaking from exhaustion as we're leaving class. All from a few tendues, arabesques and rond de jambes (google them) at the bar.

Imagine if one had that kind of precision in a crossfit class. Guess you'd have a heart attack after your first set of push-ups. Anyway. Found this picture in an old but still valid book on beginners ballet technique. Enjoy. Tomorrow is contemporary with another set of principles altogether.